Runelords 41.0 - The Druid of Jorgenfist
During a quiet moment, Virgil sat down with Khyrralien to discuss civilly the problem of the curse that afflicted him. It was progressing rapidly, and he was very notably unwell. Now that the tone of the conversation was equitable and calm, Khyr determined that while he would rather not be undead, he would much rather suffer eternal inconvenience than let the power go to Luna, who had been acting rather out-of-character lately, the blame of which was placed squarely on Zara, the intelligent book she consorted with. Virgil agreed with his decision, also unsettled by Luna's recent behaviour, and they settled on Virgil's uncle, Ryuji Komatsu, as their best bet of finding a solution. The next day, the group discussed what their plans should be. Eventually, it was determined that their best course of action was to capture the remaining commander of the forces at Jorgenfist, returning leadership to Needlenest and solving the impending problem of the army. Afterwards, they could take their prisoners, Barl and ostensibly the druid as well, to the Undead Nation where Ryuji lived and presided over. He certainly had the capability to incarcerate and put to trial two casters who would very likely not be contained effectively by any local authorities, even if they would arrest them on the word of adventurers. He could also, hopefully, help Khyr, though Luna was openly derisive of this idea. Politely excusing themselves so as to not raise suspicion from Lucretia and Koume, Virgil, Luna, Eamon and Alicia stepped out of the library, with the intent of deposing the druid that still commanded the treants. Passing the justifiably irate, trussed up Barl, the group ascended through the basement, bypassing the shrinking defense on the doorway. After updating Needlenest, she thanked them and informed them that the druid spent much of her time in her private sanctum, only accessible through an underwater passage down the hall: the pool that had been protected by the four sylvans they had seen before. With a plan to draw off the guardians so as to avoid fighting them, more for the sylvan's protection than their own, they covered Luna, Eamon and Alicia with Invisibility, and left Virgil as a distraction. When they reached the room, there were only two guardians there: a rosevine-like creature and one that resembled tumbleweed. When Virgil caught their attention, the tumbleweed took a rolling charge at him, but the vine lowered itself into the water, reaching out in what seemed to be an attempt to raise an alarm down a tunnel. The other three made their way towards the pool; Eamon chopped off the vine's arm as Luna dove in and began to make her way towards the other end of the sunken tunnel. The vine fought back as Virgil suddenly appeared above the water thanks to his Dimension Door and dove in as well; the tumbleweed had been left charging around the corner. It became a race to make it to the end of the tunnel, the vine chasing after Luna and Virgil, as Eamon and Alicia carried the rear. As Luna surfaced, she saw the druid who had lead the assault on Sandpoint sitting and meditating in a vine-covered room; the two other sylvans stood nearby. The vine surfaced and yelled out a warning, but the druid only frowned, cursing the lack of peace here. The four adventurers converged around the druid, trying their best to avoid the sylvans, though they were insistent on attacking at the behest of the druid. Meanwhile, she continued to meditate, her magic calling more water up into the room, threatening to submerge it. Alicia and Eamon struggled with the rosevine sylvan, and eventually managed to knock it back down the tunnel. The battle was quickly resolved in the favour of the adventurers; the unconscious druid lost the magic disguising her in a human form, revealing her to be a lamia as well. Virgil gently approached the now-fearful sylvans, particularly the rosevine, healing their wounds and assuring them that they didn't want to hurt them, they just couldn't afford to let them to go to war. Dragging back the unconscious lamia towards the basement, they stopped to inform Needlenest of their success: the two leaders had been deposed, and she was now in charge of the sylvans once more. The great treant thanked and blessed them for their efforts, and declared that there would be no war: her people would not serve Karzoug. Dropping their second prisoner off beside their first, the group reconvened in the library.Category:Rise of the Runelords